It was another so-near-yet-so far moment for Rajasthan Royals as it suffered a two-run defeat against Lucknow Super Giants, despite Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 52-ball-74 and youngster Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s promising innings.
Chasing 181 for a triumph on a sluggish Sawai Mansingh Stadium surface on Saturday, the 14 year-and-23 day-old Suryavanshi, who became the youngest player to make his debut in the Indian Premier League, did not look under pressure as he hit Shardul Thakur for a six and followed it up with a six and a four off Avesh Khan, en route to his 20-ball-34.
In the absence of captain Sanju Samson, who is yet to recover from his lower abdomen injury, Suryavanshi forged an 85-run opening stand with Jaiswal before being stumped by Rishabh Pant.
However, with the seasoned Jaiswal bringing up his fourth half-century of the season, and adding 62 runs with stand-in captain Riyan Parag, Royals looked on course for a much-needed win, before Avesh (3 for 37) turned things around, dismissing both in a span of five deliveries.
Also read | Vaibhav Suryavanshi becomes youngest ever to play in IPL
The Royals needed nine runs in the final over, but with some tidy bowling by Avesh, Dhruv Jurel and Shimron Hetmyer struggled as the home team fell a couple of runs short of the target. It looked like a repeat of its previous game against Delhi Capitals, where the Royals middle-order failed to finish the game despite being in a comfortable position.
Earlier, Aiden Markram (66, 45b; 5×4 3×6) and Ayush Badoni (50, 34b; 5×4, 1×6) scored fifties. Parag shuffled his bowlers well and it was a turning out to be a disciplined show by the bowling unit, led by Jofra Archer, going into the 20th over.
But Abdul Samad turned things around for LSG as he hit four sixes off Sandeep Sharma to help his side add 27 off the last six balls. It’s the joint-most Sandeep has conceded in an over in IPL. In the end, that cost the Royals dear.